Redshirt junior Becky Kaplan became the first Terp in 11 years to net a hat trick to lead the No. 4 University of Maryland women's soccer team to a 9-0 victory at Loyola Monday night at the Ridley Athletic Complex.

The game was competitive to start as the Greyhounds came out with a lot of energy and challenged every ball. But, the Terps finally broke through in the 12th minute to take a 1-0 lead.

Senior Lydia Hastings and junior Danielle Hubka worked what looked to be a give-and-go down the left sideline, but instead of sending the ball back to Hastings, Hubka played it to seniorJasmyne Spencer near the middle of the field. Spencer was under pressure, but flicked the ball on for Kaplan, who outraced the Greyhound defense and easily beat Didi Haracic for the goal.

That 1-0 advantage only lasted less than a minute as junior Olivia Wagner blasted a shot from distance that Haracic got a piece of, but the ball deflected off of her hands and into the goal for a 2-0 Maryland lead in the 13th minute.

The scoring barrage continued in the 19th minute when Kaplan scored her second of the game. Spencer and senior Ashley Grove played a nice little two-man game to buy some time for Kaplan to make a run from the midfield. Grove played the ball between two Loyola defenders for Kaplan who finished another 1-v-1 opportunity to make it 3-0.

The 22nd minute saw the Terps score twice to increase their lead to 5-0.

The first goal, which made it 4-0, came when Wagner played a nice cross from the left corner to Grove just outside the six-yard box. Haracic stopped Grove's initial shot, but couldn't control the rebound and Grove finished that simply into the empty net.

Kaplan finished her hat trick with another 1-v-1 goal thanks to a long ball over the top of the Greyhound defense by Hastings.

Maryland's reserves got into the scoring act in the 37th minute when sophomore Hayley Brock netted her first goal as a Terrapin. Brock dribbled the ball nearly 40 yards and outraced three Loyola defenders before finishing into the lower left corner of the Greyhound goal.

Wagner scored her second goal of the game to make it a 7-0 in the 57th minute on a free kick from just outside the Loyola 18-yard box. The kick was setup by a nice move by freshman Cory Ryan that drew the Greyhound foul.

Grove's second goal of the night in the 77th minute made it an 8-0 lead for the Terps. Freshman Alex Doody crossed the ball from the far right corner to the far corner of the six-yard box. As Grove collected the ball, Haracic and a Greyhound defender closed in, but Grove was able to sneak the ball through and into the lower left corner.

The scoring wrapped up with Doody scoring her first collegiate goal. She finished a cross from senior Annesia Faulker to up the Maryland lead to 9-0 in the 88th minute. For Faulkner the assist marked her return to the scoring from a long battle with injury. The assist is Faulkners first point since she scored a goal vs. Virginia on Oct. 16, 2008.

Senior Yewande Balogun was solid in net for the Terps, making two saves in 60 minutes before being relieved by sophomoreShannon Zickler, who completed the shutout.

"We scored some good goals tonight from both midfielders and forwards," said Maryland head coach Brian Pensky. "It was a great night; Loyola has a beautiful facility and the crowd was outstanding. We're very pleased to get this win and very much looking forward to Friday's challenge when Stanford comes to town."

Next up for the Terps, they are set to host the biggest non-conference game in their 25-year history when No. 1 Stanford comes to Ludwig Field on Friday, Aug. 26. That match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.

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